SC - Mica Miller, 30 yr old Found Deceased - Pastors Wife's Death Being Investigated, May 2024 #2

[rescuemom]

It is not behind a paywall, AFAIK. Wasn't for me.

The link to subscribe to read it takes you to an option of 3 different payments

 

[SteveP]

The link to subscribe to read it takes you to an option of 3 different payments

Most of the important parts are scattered among several posts above. If you have invisible mode on your browser, that often will get you in also. JMO

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

<snipped for focus>

There appears to be precedent for holding a person responsible for coercive control/psychological warfare, such as the case of a young woman who urged her boyfriend to commit suicide, which he did and she was criminally charged.

A woman was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend's suicide

Michelle Carter now faces up to 20 years in prison when she's sentenced on Aug. 3.

www.nbcnews.com

Thank you Sundog for sharing that case of Michelle Carter. There could well be some perspectives used in it that might apply here? State of SC needs to be factored in too.

There is also a federal precedent-setting case a few years ago in Delaware regarding stalking and cyberstalking resulting in death. David Matusiewicz and his sister were both convicted under it and remain in jail AFAIK. Both of his parents are now deceased; the father was the shooter in a double slaying in a Delaware courthouse lobby. Here is an article on it from the United State’s Attorney Office Delaware District entitled “Third Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Landmark Cyberstalking Resulting in Death Conviction in Matusiewicz Case”:

Third Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Landmark Cyberstalking Resulting in Death Conviction in Matusiewicz Case

www.justice.gov

IANAL, and while new law to help in cases such as this might be needed - one might hope some existing federal and / or state statutes could already apply to the conduct displayed towards MM. And some envision and hope that the apparent FBI and other federal involvement might assist with this.

It is doubtful and unfortunate that a newly enacted law could retroactively apply in this case? MOO

 

[tlcya]

The link to subscribe to read it takes you to an option of 3 different payments

I was able to read the article with no prompt to subscribe. I wonder if it is one of those you get so many free views of that site's content before being made to subscribe. Maybe you've read articles from that news org previously and used up your free views?

 

[bestill]

This is to clear up some confusion with Senator Luke Rankin's comments about Mica's family attorney. The amendments to the bill have introduced, however it never moved forward. Luke Rankin's comments on facebook aren't helpful. He should get on board with Regina Ward and get it done to help future Mica's in my opinion!

Link to his post - https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...d5I4YmR2CuNFP5Bn2i5NGRqN2rrCpNVxDrsQZn6TA&s=1

 

[SteveP]

This is worth a listen...

 

[tezi]

The day after Mica died, J.P. texted her family.

"This is what happens when you try to encourage someone to divorce the person they love and tell them they don't need medicine and that they're not ill when they are," J.P. Miller allegedly wrote, according to text messages her family has shared online. "Good job Francis family."
The double life of pastor J.P. Miller: How Mica Miller's death exposed the sins of her husband

good gravy what an *advertiser censored**. Who does that?

tlcya, apparently, J.P. does. He makes me sick.

JMO, IMO, and all other disclaimers.

 

[lonetraveler]

<modsnip - not an approved source>
*Meanwhile, the family's attorney said that she was brainwashed. "This man, in my opinion and based on the documents, my conversations with Mica whenever she was alive, tell me that she was brainwashed by this man," Ward told NewsNation. "He abused her in every possible way that there is. Financially, he abused her, but taking away things, phones, access to money, took away her car, those types of things to try to gain control of her. Every time she tried to leave him, he would harass and stalk her to the point she just felt like she had to give up and go back."

Mica Miller's Father Says Multiple Shell Casings Found At Scene Of Daughter's Death: "Didn't Make Much Sense"

Mica Miller's father Michael Francis continues to speak out about his daughter's death. He's blasting the police.

www.wideopencountry.com

OMG, I've just started reading up on this case because my sister called me about it. I don't know if I can finish this. So much like my first marriage. Actually, just like my first marriage. Very controlling and manipulative. When I finally escaped, and I do mean escaped. My husband took off of work and hunted me for ten days with his rifle. I hid out. He called my sister and said if I didn't call him in five minutes he would kill himself. My sister called and told me that and did I think he would, I said yes, he will. He shot himself in the side fat and then hid the rifle in the attic. Told LE that I shot him.
I know exactly what this woman went through. My husband was a perverted, religious nut.

 

[lonetraveler]

[Part 2 of the video interview with Mica's dad on Law & Crime]

Q: Michael, here's the thing. I hate to ask you this, and I know it must be difficult to revisit it, but when you mentioned the 911 call, when that came out, I think a lot of people were suspecting there might be something. They were convinced that was the end of the story. When you mentioned the 911 call you said there's something about the way Mica sounded on the phone that sounded odd to you. What do you mean by that?

(16:32) Answer with Mica's dad: Very slow speech. She's a very happy go-lucky excitable person, uh, and she, it was too slow. It was very slow. It was metered, um, it could have been done with an AI type of previous recordings, where, uh somebody would have had those words from her previously or you know whatever. And so it just doesn't make sense.

Q: Do you have a theory as to what happened? Because authorities are saying, you know, they cross checked his alibi of where he was. Um, do you have a theory as to what happened? And again, I know this is sensitive. So if you don't want to share it, I understand, but do you have a theory as to what you believe happened to your daughter?

A: Well, I share what we spoke about with the authority, the sheriff in NC. Um, also, as far as with his location, uh, we've seen pictures of his truck. It had dark windows. Was it even him in there?

Where's pictures of him physically there? We haven't seen those. They've not been produced. If someone else has them we would like to seem them to prove that he was there, otherwise it could be anybody in that truck.

(17:45) So the theory would be that uh, because she had multiple tracking devices put on her car previously, that she was followed out to the park or forced to go out to the park and they either follow her out there or she, which there's no reason for her to go out there, that's the main point as well. She's never been out there, we don't go up there. It's not a family spot, and she was off the trail enough into a Park Ranger only area that nobody knows about.

So, the theory would be that she was either tracked and then they said well we didn't find a tracking device, well they could have removed it at the park. When the car was the park, and then the car was collected by the authorities they didn't check for a tracker, which blew my mind.

(18:45) They said, oh we have all the evidence and everything. We asked them if there was a tracker on her car and they said well we didn't check. We were flabbergasted!

This happened over and over during that interview. Why didn't you check that? We know that there was 3 or 4 trackers put on her vehicles. Why wouldn't you check to see if she was followed?

They said oh there's no cameras, but we know she wasn't followed. Her car is just out here. They said no tracker. I said they could have removed it after they did the deed

(19:14) Mica's mother, Angelita, she said you know she said pretend this is Mica's hand (he uses a phone to demonstrate). She asked me, grab this hand and then she pulled it up, you know, and it looks like someone squeezed her hand and raised it up and shot. And there is defensive wounds from it and such.

And that's the general idea of our theory. That somebody crushed her hand to hold the gun up to her head while she's fighting, either them or someone else, held her other hand or her other arm back, because there's bruising on it from squeezing, and they forced it to look like that was self-inflicted.

And a couple of rounds went off during the scuffle, one ejected was live, and then it finally happened the way they would want it to happen and then dumped her in the water, probably 40 m away from where the shell casings and the gun was found.

(20:19) The water doesn't flow there. It's a slough. It's still. It just sinks. When it recesses it goes the other direction from where she was found.

So her body, even if it was put in the water right there, would not have flowed the direction where she was found, it would flow the other way. So it would be possible that the incident occurred right there and the shell casings and the gun was dumped in the water right there and then she was carried farther 40 meters back into a little bit more secluded area where she was found.

[I'll do the part with her sister tonight]

You are totally right about the water there, It is like a stinking mud hole.

 

[Kudzuu]

OMG, I've just started reading up on this case because my sister called me about it. I don't know if I can finish this. So much like my first marriage. Actually, just like my first marriage. Very controlling and manipulative. When I finally escaped, and I do mean escaped. My husband took off of work and hunted me for ten days with his rifle. I hid out. He called my sister and said if I didn't call him in five minutes he would kill himself. My sister called and told me that and did I think he would, I said yes, he will. He shot himself in the side fat and then hid the rifle in the attic. Told LE that I shot him.
I know exactly what this woman went through. My husband was a perverted, religious nut.

I am so sorry you went through that. But I am so happy you got out and away from him.

 

[Claroon]

Unless you've been in a relationship with a narcissist - and can understand their ability to manipulate (and part of what makes it so hard to get out of relationship with) - saying "never" is a big thing. Another option is she went to meet him because he was going to give her something he knew she would need ---- a million ways to manipulate her to go see him -- honestly if she thought "one last time" because.... (insert: he had her convinced he would stop following her, sign the divorce papers, not harm someone else --- the list of things that can be used by that type of a person to "lure" her there is long - and we don't know ALL that Mica knew about anything/everything) -- she might have gone (but with a gun because she was finally accepting that she could NOT trust him and he was not SAFE for her to be alone with).

Again - just a scenario that keeps sitting in my mind.

I'm on team, "she was lured". I'm on team, "this was not suicide" and all posts are simply my own opinion and will be until all stones are overturned. If she wasn't lured to the park, she was lured elsewhere, taken down, and dumped in the river while another female pretended to be her on the 911 call. Those are the theories I'm going with right now.

 

[musicaljoke]

What would the FBI be looking for in the financials? If JP owns the church and rules the board, would it be a transgression if he just siphoned off all the money into his own pocket for bonuses, or vehicles, or sexual liaisons, or whatever else he claims is for the purpose of running the church?

Are charities governed by a set of financial regulations? It appears that if he has such a significant hand in the financial decisions, that there can't possibly be any regulations forbidding it. Can a church lose its charity status, or is that self-appointed?

Just for comparison, I am the treasurer at our church. The Canada Revenue Agency doesn't allow a paid employee to hold a voting position on the board which oversees the financial decisions. Our annual financial reports, the balance sheet and profit & loss statements, are reportable to the CRA and are public information available online at the CRA Charities page. Charitable donations must be used for the purpose that they were given.

I don't see these requirements in SC. In fact, I don't see any difference between operating a registered charity or operating a not-for-profit which is not a charity. It seems to me, that money which is tax receipted as a donation to charity, can be used for non charitable purposes, and there is no accountability for the expense.

Or am I just not finding the right set of regulations?

 

[SteveP]

Seems to be a lot of grey area, as far as what financial crimes the FBI could investigate a church for, but I found this...

Religious officials who misuse church monies can be criminally or civilly liable only so long as State or Federal officials have the authority to take legal action in this area; courts can adjudicate the conflict; and religious freedom is not unconstitutionally infringed in the process. It is also possible for church members to detect financial wrongdoing by church leaders and institute a civil action to recover the diverted funds. The Federal Government can directly impose sanctions against church officials who misappropriate funds where the mails have been fraudulently used to solicit funds or tax laws have been violated. Action against a church organization can be taken by revoking tax exempt status.

Once State officials have cause to suspect fraud or corruption in a church, a properly narrowed summons could be issued to obtain necessary information from church records. Church leaders basking in luxury should raise suspicions, at least in those churches where church leaders are expected not to profit unduly from religious service.

Diversion of Church Funds to Personal Use - State, Federal and Private Sanctions | Office of Justice Programs

www.ojp.gov

 

[Kudzuu]

Seems to be a lot of grey area, as far as what financial crimes the FBI could investigate a church for, but I found this...

Religious officials who misuse church monies can be criminally or civilly liable only so long as State or Federal officials have the authority to take legal action in this area; courts can adjudicate the conflict; and religious freedom is not unconstitutionally infringed in the process. It is also possible for church members to detect financial wrongdoing by church leaders and institute a civil action to recover the diverted funds. The Federal Government can directly impose sanctions against church officials who misappropriate funds where the mails have been fraudulently used to solicit funds or tax laws have been violated. Action against a church organization can be taken by revoking tax exempt status.

Once State officials have cause to suspect fraud or corruption in a church, a properly narrowed summons could be issued to obtain necessary information from church records. Church leaders basking in luxury should raise suspicions, at least in those churches where church leaders are expected not to profit unduly from religious service.

Diversion of Church Funds to Personal Use - State, Federal and Private Sanctions | Office of Justice Programs

www.ojp.gov

I just completed an audit of the last four years of the church I attend. COVID changed a lot of things but luckily the collection and moving of funds did not. This is a small church affiliated with a large worldwide church and there are rules in place to be followed.

Having said that, in an independent church led by a pastor may or may not have had their finances audited. In that case, I can only imagine that the finances are messy like JP's life.

There is a lot of lee way with taking care of the money. If you are a crook or feel entitled to dip into funds the only way you get caught is by an audit formal or informal. And even then punishment is left up to the leaders in the church. If it involves cheating the IRS (certain travel e.g. is taxable income as is, in my case, a priest's salary) then you certainly have a problem. Only IF YOU ARE CAUGHT and it is reported.

MOO. I'm sure this church will have its finances scrutinized.

MOO

 

[Teche]

OMG, I've just started reading up on this case because my sister called me about it. I don't know if I can finish this. So much like my first marriage. Actually, just like my first marriage. Very controlling and manipulative. When I finally escaped, and I do mean escaped. My husband took off of work and hunted me for ten days with his rifle. I hid out. He called my sister and said if I didn't call him in five minutes he would kill himself. My sister called and told me that and did I think he would, I said yes, he will. He shot himself in the side fat and then hid the rifle in the attic. Told LE that I shot him.
I know exactly what this woman went through. My husband was a perverted, religious nut.

I'm sorry you experienced this horror. Thank you for sharing because this could encourage others to walk away.

 

[musicaljoke]

Seems to be a lot of grey area, as far as what financial crimes the FBI could investigate a church for, but I found this...

Religious officials who misuse church monies can be criminally or civilly liable only so long as State or Federal officials have the authority to take legal action in this area; courts can adjudicate the conflict; and religious freedom is not unconstitutionally infringed in the process. It is also possible for church members to detect financial wrongdoing by church leaders and institute a civil action to recover the diverted funds. The Federal Government can directly impose sanctions against church officials who misappropriate funds where the mails have been fraudulently used to solicit funds or tax laws have been violated. Action against a church organization can be taken by revoking tax exempt status.

Once State officials have cause to suspect fraud or corruption in a church, a properly narrowed summons could be issued to obtain necessary information from church records. Church leaders basking in luxury should raise suspicions, at least in those churches where church leaders are expected not to profit unduly from religious service.

Diversion of Church Funds to Personal Use - State, Federal and Private Sanctions | Office of Justice Programs

www.ojp.gov

Well, that sounds like the church leaders have heaps of freedom to run with whatever financial schemes they come up with. smh

 

[Knox]

I just completed an audit of the last four years of the church I attend. COVID changed a lot of things but luckily the collection and moving of funds did not. This is a small church affiliated with a large worldwide church and there are rules in place to be followed.

Having said that, in an independent church led by a pastor may or may not have had their finances audited. In that case, I can only imagine that the finances are messy like JP's life.

There is a lot of lee way with taking care of the money. If you are a crook or feel entitled to dip into funds the only way you get caught is by an audit formal or informal. And even then punishment is left up to the leaders in the church. If it involves cheating the IRS (certain travel e.g. is taxable income as is, in my case, a priest's salary) then you certainly have a problem. Only IF YOU ARE CAUGHT and it is reported.

MOO. I'm sure this church will have its finances scrutinized.

MOO

Thanks for sharing your direct experience with the financial side of things. I in no way think JPM is honest in Church finances. We've already seen the transfer of their home, at a less than appraised value, to solid rock. As well as that airplane purchase, which by the way - who was going to ask HIM to speak at their Church? Another Cult?

What I wondered was, if his attorney - who also sits on the board of solid rock. Was able to keep the financial side of things in proper order - at least legally speaking? It appears to pass the sniff test on the surface (IRS purposes), but in an FBI forensic audit scenerio - the house of cards will fall?

 

[Kudzuu]

Thanks for sharing your direct experience with the financial side of things. I in no way think JPM is honest in Church finances. We've already seen the transfer of their home, at a less than appraised value, to solid rock. As well as that airplane purchase, which by the way - who was going to ask HIM to speak at their Church? Another Cult?

What I wondered was, if his attorney - who also sits on the board of solid rock. Was able to keep the financial side of things in proper order - at least legally speaking? It appears to pass the sniff test on the surface (IRS purposes), but in an FBI forensic audit scenerio - the house of cards will fall?

I don't really understand the tax side but I was told that if a pastor goes on a mission trip/holiday (think business trip extended for nonbusiness time) then some things are taxable like plane tickets.
If JP was going to evangelize at another church and was paid I would think that would be taxable income. In the church I attend the priest gets SECA which is a percentage of salary and housing. This is reported on the W2 and the priest is responsible for paying the taxes. It seems more than fair to me.

I don't have confidence that an audit done by experts will not show the money being mismanaged. Not saying JP is doing this on purpose but he has had total control of the church at times. He can't manage his own life how can he manage finances? It is not easy keeping track of ALL monies, where they go,what they were for etc etc.

My opinions, but in my experience messy people have trouble keeping up with money.

 

[SteveP]

I don't really understand the tax side but I was told that if a pastor goes on a mission trip/holiday (think business trip extended for nonbusiness time) then some things are taxable like plane tickets.
If JP was going to evangelize at another church and was paid I would think that would be taxable income. In the church I attend the priest gets SECA which is a percentage of salary and housing. This is reported on the W2 and the priest is responsible for paying the taxes. It seems more than fair to me.

I don't have confidence that an audit done by experts will not show the money being mismanaged. Not saying JP is doing this on purpose but he has had total control of the church at times. He can't manage his own life how can he manage finances? It is not easy keeping track of ALL monies, where they go,what they were for etc etc.

My opinions, but in my experience messy people have trouble keeping up with money.

I have read somewhere that Mica stated that the church finances were a mess, and that they could not keep accountants. I believe she said they had been through about five in the last two years, iirc. JMO

 

[musicaljoke]

I have read somewhere that Mica stated that the church finances were a mess, and that they could not keep accountants. I believe she said they had been through about five in the last two years, iirc. JMO

I wonder why they would need to keep an accountant? Or is this term used interchangeably with bookkeeper? Does anyone recall whether or not the church website listed having a treasurer?

Probably the income was recorded, because tax receipts would need to be issued. But it wouldn't surprise me that there weren't records of the expenses. Then who would even know if the church were funding something non-charitable, like a night club or a bar.